Sen. Tim Kaine faulted President Biden for taking too long to demand that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allow more aid into Gaza.
Mr. Kaine, the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee in 2016, said he agreed with Mr. Biden’s notion that the current approach is “not working,” but he said Mr. Biden should have pushed Mr. Netanyahu to open another aid crossing from Israel to the Gaza Strip “months ago” because it was the “obvious solution.”
His statement comes after a strike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers Monday as they were trying to bring food to civilians in Gaza. The organization has since called for an independent investigation of the strike that killed the workers.
Mr. Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, said the Israeli strike that killed the workers “crystallizes the frustration that is at a boiling point.”
The U.S. should join the call for an investigation, he said, and the Biden administration should “prioritize the transfer of defensive weapons in all arms sales to Israel while withholding bombs and other offensive weapons that can kill and wound civilians and humanitarian aid workers.”
“Israel must have the capacity to defend itself against those — like Hamas — who would annihilate it. But more offensive weapons delivered at this moment will only further widen suffering in Israel, Gaza, and the region,” Mr. Kaine said.
More lawmakers are pushing Mr. Biden to put added pressure on Mr. Netanyahu to forge a peace agreement.
“There is need for immediate progress on a deal to free the hostages and establish a significant ceasefire in which humanitarian aid can flow to suffering people without fear of military attack. Such a deal will de-escalate the widening regional tensions and open up room for a much-needed and long-delayed discussion about Palestinian autonomy,” Mr. Kaine said.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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